Report: Ex-Iran president's son returns from exile to answer charges of inciting protests

The son of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has reportedly returned to Iran from exile to answer charges of inciting unrest after a disputed election in 2009, fueling speculation that Rafsanjani's influence in Tehran may once again be growing.

Hasan Sarbakhshian / AP file

Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the founding figures of the Islamic Republic, incurred the anger of conservatives after backing opposition candidates in 2009 elections.

Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani arrived in Tehran late on Sunday, the Iran-based Fars news agency reported, having spent three years in the United Kingdom following his alleged involvement in the widespread protests that followed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mehdi Rafsanjani had spent several days in Dubai and had been expected to return to Iran on Sunday, an independent source told Reuters.

Analysts say his return indicates a deal has been agreed with authorities to resolve the charges he faces, and suggests his father's political fortunes may be reviving.

Akbar Rafsanjani played a central role in the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran last month, being photographed walking alongside Iran's most powerful authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and sat next to U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon.

If the Rafsanjani family fortunes are changing, it may well have to do with his reputation as a business leader who could help boost the country's flagging economy, NBC News' Tehran bureau chief Ali Arouzi said.

But his backing of opposition candidates in 2009 and sympathy for opposition demonstrators incurred the anger of conservatives and led to a decline in his influence.

Mehdi Rafsanjani's reported return comes 24 hours after another member of the powerful and wealthy Rafsanjani family, his sister Faezeh, began a six-month jail sentence for "spreading anti-state propaganda."